Chapter 27
*Lexi*
When Ally dropped me off, the first I noticed was that his car was still missing from the driveway. It was close to eight o’clock, which meant he’d been gone for almost seven hours now. That was far too long without a call or text. Harry never just took off places; he’d leave a note, call me, or text me, and he hadn’t. It was driving me insane; what if he didn’t come home?
Damien was possibly close by; what if he decided to involve Harry in the game? I’d never forgive myself.
After around an hour of pacing in the front room, I decided cleaning could be a proper outlet for my worrying, rather than pacing and waiting. The kitchen could always be bleached, right? It didn’t matter to me that Harry had a maid, or that it was nearly ten o’clock; I needed something to do.
The kitchen was bleached, the floors swept, the windows wiped, and the fire made by the time I quit cleaning; it turns out the Wii Fit was right when they mentioned cleaning as an exercise. My arms and legs ached, and it was only around eleven thirty when I finished. Going to bed would be nice, but there was still the problem.
He wasn’t home yet.
Maybe the other boys would know where he was; why hadn’t I thought of that earlier? I mean, yeah, he could have gone to Louis and fallen asleep at the apartment! Maybe his phone went dead, and all I had to do was call the others.
“Lex?” Louis answered the phone groggily; I’d probably woken him up. Crap.
“Harry isn’t there, is he.” The disappointment was easily in my tone; Louis grumbled.
“No babe, sorry. Maybe he went out to a drink; call me back if he isn’t home by morning. Text me if he comes back, alright?” I muttered an agreement, and he hung up. Now to try Zayn.
“Mmm?” He was definitely asleep.
“Zayn, it’s Lexi. Have you see Harry?”
“Naw, sorry. Chill Lex, he’s probably out.”
He hung up.
“Fuck,” I muttered. Liam was my last chance, because Josh and Niall were with Ally, and they were supposed to call me if they saw Harry.
“Liam Payne,” He greeted; I rolled my eyes.
“Liam, it’s Lex. Do you know where Harry is?”
“No; I’m in the ER with Brittany. She’s fine, but Sophie and her got in a accident so she needs her head checked.”
“Wait what?” He sighed.
“It’s fine Lex, just go find Harry okay? He will be home by midnight or so, I bet you. Relax.” Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and replied.
“Alright Liam, tell Britt to just chill, and I hope she’s okay. Bye.”
Two hours later, and it was two in the morning. Harry wasn’t home, and I was dangerously close to either calling Paul, or falling asleep.
There was a loud bang on the door before he walked in, strode right past me, and went into the bedroom.
“Harry?” Running to the bedroom, I followed him over to the bed, where he’d gone to take off his clothes. Not letting that distract me, I carefully looked him over.
That’s when I saw the bruise.
It was along the side of his right cheekbone. Purple, black, and blue; it was painted on his skin, a sick, twisted picture on such a beautiful canvas.
“Don’t mention anything, just stop for a minute babe.” Harry cut me off before I had time to yell at him; ask him where he’d been. There was a hard set to his eyes; the business look.
“Harold Edward Styles, tell me what happened. Now.” He continued to strip, ignoring me effectively. “Dammit Harry!” I quickly lost my patience and groaned, rolling my eyes and moving away from him.
“You didn’t tell me what you were doing.” He muttered; starting to get into the bed. I spun around with lightning speed; that struck a nerve. He was going to be angry at me about the video? I hadn’t even known about it until we’d pressed play!
“I went to Sophie’s apartment with Ally, got the box, and found that video! It was waiting for me Harry; it wasn’t like I had a choice! It wasn’t like I knew what... I didn’t expect that.” He was silent for a moment; he studied my face and I couldn’t meet his eyes.
“I got into a fight because I was angry about the tape. The bruise is the result of that. Alright?” It wasn’t all the information I’d really wanted, but it was late, I was tired, and he was home.
“Alright.”
He took me easily into his arms and shut off the light; the bed was soft and cold, but his body was warm against mine.
“I’ll never let that happen to you ever again. Nothing will hurt you; no one will. I will always protect you.”
Hopefully always lived up to its definition.
